220544 Web-based system for informatics and decision support in geographic medicine

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 8:50 AM - 9:10 AM

Stephen Berger, MD , Department of Geographic Medicine, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
347 generic infectious diseases are distributed haphazardly in time and space; and are challenged by 342 drugs and vaccines. Over 3,000 pathogenic bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi have been described in human disease. An ongoing project for decision support and informatics will serve as a paradigm to demonstrate an approach to web-based systems for Geographic Medicine. The first module in the program generates ranked differential diagnoses based on signs, symptoms, laboratory tests, exposure history, country of acquisition and incubation period; and can be used to diagnose or simulate any infectious disease scenario. Additional capabilities include bioterrorism simulation and syndromic surveillance. The second module follows the epidemiology of individual diseases, including their global status and occurrence in each endemic country. As of 2010, this module contains three million words of text in 18,000 country-specific text notes; 32,095 graphs; 5,100 images (clinical, microscopic, life cycle, etc); 345 maps; 150,000 linked references; 10,200 outbreaks and 21,101 disease prevalence and serosurveys. The third module follows the pharmacology and usage of all anti-infective drugs and vaccines. The fourth module is designed to identify and characterize all species of bacteria, mycobacteria and yeasts. Application of such systems for use in diagnosis, surveillance and education will be discussed

Learning Areas:
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Communication and informatics
Epidemiology
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe sources and methods used to design a global informatics system for Geographic Medicine. Demonstrate an ongoing project which follows the status of infectious diseases on a global level, and within individual countries.

Keywords: Infectious Diseases, Information Systems

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Screen-shots from GIDEON (Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology On Line) will be discussed

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have personally developed the systems which will be presented, and am responsible for all scientific content therein
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
Gideon Informatics, Inc Scientific Director Employment (includes retainer)

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.